MATCH INFO

Lima, Peru, July 22, 2011 - Serbia closed with a convincingly play the first day in the FIVB Volleyball Women’s Junior World Championship Peru 2011.They won 3-1 to Cuba (25-22, 23-25, 25-17, 25-10) and took the 3 point that was played.

Serbia's Ivana Lukovic was the maximum scorer for her team with 18 points, joined by Jovana Stevanovic, Ana Bjelica and Maja Savic who all scored 12 points. The Cuban attacker Sulian Matienzo was the maximum scorer of the match with 21 points, while the captain Yunieska Robles scored 16 points.

In the second day of Pool B, Cuba will open the matches role against Italy and then Brazil against Serbia.

Serbia began dominating the first set and with a great job in the attack, especially on Lukovic and Stevanovic’s hands, who each contributed five points. Cuba attacked with efficiency, but on the average, they made too much mistakes and they couldn’t win it. In total, the Cubans, world champion in 1985 and 1993, handed over 10 points by mistake from the 25 of Serbia, who took advantage of it for keeping always at the top in the score (8-4, 16-14). In cuba, the points of Matienzo and Robles (six each in the first set) could not do much and, therefore, the set was defined 25-22 in 23 minutes.

The second set was unexpected from the beginning until the end. Serbia started winning the first four points and they went 8-2 in the first technical time out. Even in the second time, they kept their advantage of four points. But Cuba started to press in the blocking, attacking with more efficiency and tied in the 20th point with the service of Regla García. But not only had that, in that turn of service, the Cubans stretched their advantage until the 23-20. Serbia got closer with great blocking and they left the partial down 24-23, but the captain Yunieska Robles (she scored seven points in the set) defined the set in an attack by the middle blocker for 25-23 score. Matienzo was the outstanding player with 10 points in theset, which was defined in 24 minutes.

Serbia took advantage in the match with absolute control since the second technical time out of third set. Cuba started with advantages of 8-7 and the world championship runners up in 2005 recovered in the second technical time out with 16-15. None of the Cuban player could contribute something good to the team and, with several mistakes (seven in the set), crushed against the fearsome blocking from the Serbians (four points). At the same time, the attacker Ivana Lokovic got to her team at the top of the set and took advantage without a possible recovery from the Cuban (20-16 and 24-17). The Europeans got the set 25-17 in just 22 minutes.

The fourth set was for Serbia, whom dominated from the beginning to the end in every part of the game. Serve, block and attack, besides of force the Cuban errors in all the partial. Serbia dominate 8-1,16-6 and in just 17 minutes beat Cuba to take the game to 3-1 with the last 25-10, which let clear who played in the set.

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